“P. S. If you can come, please let us know at dinner time. Any other time would do.
“J. L.”
The note was duly delivered across the ironing-board, and when they went to dinner Miss Ann smiled, and nodded mysteriously at Johnny, to his great delight, and whispered to him, as she handed him his plate,—
“I’ll be there, and you needn’t help me, dear; but I’m just as much obliged to you as if you did.”
But when she said this, she did not know that a carriage-load of cousins would arrive that afternoon at half past three, and respond to the very first cordial request to “Take off your things, now do, and stay to tea?”
So four o’clock found Miss Ann in the kitchen, not by any means eating bread and honey, but mixing light biscuit for tea; and when Johnny and Tiny, having waited impatiently in the haymow for fully five minutes, went to hunt her up, they found her so engaged, and she said, pleasantly,—
“I hope it’ll keep till to-morrow, dear, for I shall be busy right on from now till bedtime, I’m afraid. Cousin Samuel’s folks don’t come here often, and mother’s set her heart on giving them a real good tea.”
“But where’s Miss Julia?” asked Johnny, without stopping to think that he had no right to ask this question; for he was very much disappointed.
“Oh, she’d just dressed herself all clean for the afternoon,” said Miss Ann, cheerfully; “so I told her to go along in and talk to ’em, while mother fixed up. I’d rather cook than talk to a lot of folks, any day in the year!” And she laughed so contentedly that Tiny and Johnny found themselves laughing too.